Telephone lighting fixture



June 26, 1951 KRUG 2,558,259

TELEPHONE LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed June 28, 1948 FIG. I.

INVENTOR: Y SAM L. KRUG Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES? PATENT E1 TELEPHONE LIGHTING FIXTURE I Sam L'...Krug, Chicago; Ill. Application June 28, 1948," Serial No. 35,688

3 Claims. (01.

This invention relates in general. to anelectric lighting fixture and ismorei particul'arlyflescribed as 1 a fixture used in connection with the current cradle type telephone instrument, although it may have'a'more'general'use wherever applicable.

In the telephone instrument now in common use, there is anopen cradle at the top" with acarrying slot'opening at the back and rotatable dial at the front of. the instrument Very often these instruments are located in an unlighted booth, in a darkhallway:or -at aadistance from the ordinary lighting means so that itis difli cult for a user;to;see the:lettera-andwnumerals of the dial. The present invention provides a portable and-removable electriclighting, fixturewhich may be quickly and easilyapplied to any instrument of this typeandhavingia'flexible. support for a lamp so that'itm'ay-be*inclined-cl0sely over the dial withoutinterfering' in any way'with the movement 10f the .combinediitransmitter and receiver from the cradle, and not requiring any change. inthe instrument base or any, special fastening means or tools to install or attach the fixture.

An important object of the invention is to provide an electric lighting fixture in combination with a telephone instrument which may be removably attached to the current cradle type dial telephone and movable with the instrument or separately therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a telephone fixture of the class described in which the lighting fixture is attachable at the rear of the telephone and the lamp may be extended over the front illuminating the dial without obstructing the movement of the receiver and transmitter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lighting fixture applicable to a telephone base without requiring tools or fastening attachment to secure it in place, but having a flexible cord for connecting it to a source of supply and a switch in connection with the fixture for turnping the light off or on as desired.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an electric lighting fixture having a support for a lamp and a switch at one end of a flexible conduit and a resilient foot at the other end through which the flexible conduit extends with a flexible conductor cord extending from the end of the conduit for connecting the lamp to a suitable source of supply.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cradle 'type telephone with a rotatable dial' to which-a lightingfixture in accordance with the present in"- vention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a sideelevation' of thelighting fi'x tureof Fig; 1' with a sectional view showing the attachment of the supporting footto the" carryingslot of the supporting'base; and

Fig: 3 is-a perspective'view of the' supportingy basei Referringnow more particularly to the drawings,- a telephone instrument of -the current type= has asupporting base- 5 with open projections-Ii and 1 at the top to form a cradle for holding: a combined receiver and 'transmittert whichis usually seated loosely inthe cradle ewhennot in use: At the front of the'b'ase is a rotatable-dial 9-by means of which any-particular exchange-and the-desired number is dialed;

Between the projections 6 and Tat opposite= sides which'form the'holder is a flat bridge l0;- and below this bridge isarecess -l l-opening from. the-back of the base and-providing convenient? means forinserting the-fingersof-the hand for. carrying or moving the instrument from place to place.

Into the recess l l is inserted a projecting foot l2 of a block [3 which may be composed of wood, plastic and other material, but preferably it is made of a somewhat resilient and flexible material like solid rubber, or a rubber-like composition, but preferably not hard rubber, like the material of which the base 5 is made. The foot I2 is rounded upwardly so that it may be pressed inwardly, resiliently engaging a beaded edge 14 at the upper side of the recess, thereby holding the block tightly in place for supporting the fixture.

The fixture comprising a flexible conduit l5 preferably of the spiral type which extends closely through a bore 16 in the block l3 to which it is secured at the under side by a fitting I! which may be cast in the block or inserted at the bottom of the block by threading it into a corresponding opening I8. At the upper end of the conduit is a connector is for attaching the conduit to a lamp fitting 20 which carries a socket 2| for a lamp 22 and a reflector 23 extending to the end of the lamp 22 with an internal switch having a push button 24 projecting in a convenient location from the end of the fitting.

Projecting from the lower end of a conduit is a. flexible conductor cord of any suitable construction having a pronged plug connector 26 at the end thereof.

With this construction, this lighting fixture may be readily and quickly applied to and removed from any telephone instrument to which it is applicable or to any similar recess in which the supporting foot I2 may be applied. The conduit may be inclined or bent forwardly and downwardly to extend over the front of the instrument and particularly to illuminate the dial 9, the reflector confining the light from the lamp to the instrument and being sufficiently close to the instrument to keep the light out of the eyes of the user.

While a preferred construction of the invention has been described in some detail, it should be regarded by way of illustration and example rather than a limitation or restriction of the invention as various changes in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An electric lighting fixture for a cradle type dial telephone instrument which has a lifting recess opening from the back of the instrument below the cradles, the fixture comprising a flexible resilient block substantially fitting the contour of the recess and engageable therein for supporting the fixture, a flexible conduit extending through the foot and upwardly therefrom, an electric lamp and a reflector therefor supported at the upper end of the conduit and movable when the conduit is bent to extend closely over the telephone dial without obstructing the cradle thereof.

2. The combination with a telephone base having a carrying recess at the rear side thereof and a dial at the front of the base, of a yieldable resilient block substantially fitting the contour of the recess and engageable to hold it in the carrying recess, a flexible conduit extending through and upwardly from the foot, a lamp and a reflector therefor carried at the upper end of the-conduit, flexible conductors extending from the lamp through the conduit and outwardly from the foot, and an attachment plug therefor, and a switch in connection with the lamp and said conductors for turning the lamp off and on.

3. The combination with a telephone instrument having a base with a carrying recess opening at the rear thereof and a dial at the front of the base, the recess having a beaded downwardly projecting upper edge, of a block of flexible resilient material having an upwardly rounded portion and of a size to substantially fill and to be inserted closely in the recess for holding it in place and the rounded portion engaging the beaded edge to hold the block in upright position, the foot having an outwardly projecting portion at the rear of the base, a flexible conduit extending upwardly through the outwardly projecting portion of the foot, means at the bottom of the conduit for retaining it in the projecting portions of the foot, an electric lamp at the top of the conduit, a reflector extending lengthwise over the outer and upper side of the lamp, an electric switch having an engageable button projecting through the reflector, and flexible conductors connected to the lamp and the switch extending through the conduit and from the bottom of the projecting portion of the foot and having a plug connector at the outer ends of the conductors.

SAM L. KRUG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,651,307 Wilkinson Nov. 29, 1927 1,828,543 Phillips Oct. 20, 1931 2,247,591 Sundee July 1, 1941 2,442,988 Satz June 8, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 271,148 Great Britain May 17, 1927 

